There's No I in TEAM
by InMemoriam
Summary: Tells the story of the team before TFATF-ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Dominic Torretto

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
Chapter One-Dominic Torretto  
  
Dominic Torretto was born on October 21, 1975 to Leila and Anthony Torretto.  
  
When he was three, his parents took him to a baby shower for their friends Mikhael and Lena Rodriguez, who were celebrating Lena's pregnancy(obviously).   
  
Seven months later, on July 12, 1979, Leticia Eden Rodriguez was born and Dominic was given permission to hold her on the couch of his home at his fourth birthday party.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Mommy! Mommy-can I hold Letty? Please? Please?" Dom begged, tugging on his mother's skirt.  
  
"You have to ask, Lena, honey. Letty's her daughter, Dominic." Leila said, ruffling his hair with a smile. She watched as Dom ran over to Lena on the couch and tugged on her skirt. She listened to him ask if he could hold Letty and nodded, smiling. Dom crawled onto the couch beside Lena and leaned against the back as she placed Letty in his arms.  
  
Leila jumped as Tony put his arms around her waist.  
  
"Look at them. He'd make such a good brother." Leila said, leaning into her husband's chest.  
  
"I know." Tony said, smiling at Dom and Letty, who'd begun to cry. The look on Dominic's face was a priceless mixture of fear, worry and complete and utter panic. All together it was amusing.  
  
"Speaking of Dominic being a brother..." Leila said softly, turning her head and kissing Tony on the cheek. "We're having a baby."  
  
"No shit?" Tony asked and Leila laughed.  
  
"No shit." she said, used to her husband's outbursts of mild cursing when he was surprised.  
  
"That's great!" he said, wrapping her in a hug.  
  
"You're not the one who has to carry her around for nine months. It'll be great until I get the mood swings and cravings for chocolate." she said jokingly.  
  
"I'll give you lots of chocolate." Tony said, laughing.  
  
"Cravings at two thirty-seven in the morning." Leila said and Tony's face fell. "I'll try to control my cravings but you better make sure we have plenty of chocolate in the house for the next nine months."  
  
END FLASHBACK 


	2. Loss

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
Chapter Two-Loss  
  
Nine months-and many chocolate cravings later-Leila gave birth to Mia Annette Torretto on July 17, 1980. Mia, while being a few ounces underweight, was perfectly healthy and giggled as the nurse showed her to Tony through the window.  
  
Leila, however, was another case.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
Tony grinned from ear to ear as the nurse held Mia up to the window and she looked at him. Her toothless gums showed as she broke into a grin and her eyes lit up. Tony was so preoccupied with Mia that he'd almost forgotten about his wife.  
  
"Mr. Torretto?"  
  
"Yes?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Mia.  
  
"Mr. Torretto this is a matter of complete seriousness. I must ask you to step away from your daughter for a moment." the doctor said monotonously, as if he'd done it a million times before. Tony looked away from Mia and followed the doctor down the hall, wondering what could've happened. The doctor stopped abruptly and turned to him.  
  
"Mr. Torretto-"  
  
"Tony, please."   
  
"Tony-I'm sorry to say that, though Mia is alive and well, your wife is in critical condition from loss of blood."  
  
"What?" Tony asked quietly.  
  
"She's a hemophiliac, Mr. Torretto. When she gave birth to Mia, her uterus ripped, causing extreme loss of blood. Put that with excessive effort and...Mr. Torretto, your wife is in Intensive Care on the Fourth Floor. She's in room 413-I suggest you go upstairs and bid your wife farewell, Mr. Torretto. She's not going to last the night, sir. I'm sorry-for you and your family." the doctor said, nodding and walking away to give another young woman the news that her mother had died of cancer.  
  
Tony walked slowly down to the nursery window and watched Mia sleep for a few moments before walking listlessly to the elevator and pressing the button.  
  
'What am I gonna tell Dom? She's his world.' Tony thought to himself, 'And what about Mia? She's never gonna know her mother. And Lena and Mikhael and Letty. And what about-'   
  
The elevator dinged and Tony was knocked out of his line of thought. He got on the elevator, pressing 4, and waited. He studied his appearence in the silver doors until they opened and he got off the elevator, wandering the halls until he found room 413 and knocked. No one answered so he opened the door silently and walked in. His heart smashed into a million pieces when he saw Leila hooked up to many machines. He dragged a chair to the bedside and sat, looking at her for what seemed like forever. He reached out and slipped Leila's fragile, pale hand into his, stroking the back of her hand. He put her hand to his lips and kissed the back, resuming stroking it, and sighed.  
  
"Leila...I..." he spoke brokenly, "I love you so much, sweetheart. Mia's beautiful-just like her mother-and I'm grateful for both of them."  
  
A tear streaked down his cheek slowly.  
  
"I'll try to teach them the right way to live-get their priorities right the first time-make you proud of them...I don't know how Dominic's going to take this at all-you were always good at telling him things-you made sense...I just...don't know how to...I love you, Leila Natalia Torretto. Rest in peace, love." he finished, resting his head on his hands on the bed and drifting to unrestful and troubled sleep.  
  
The next morning....  
  
"Mr. Torretto." said a soft voice. Tony ignored it, thinking it was Leila.  
  
"Mr. Torretto, please wake up. Your wife is dead, sir." said the voice and Tony's eyes snapped open and his head shot up. "I'm sorry I had to wake you like this, sir. It's just..." the nurse said nervously, "I thought you'd want to know..." she whispered.  
  
Tony broke down crying in front of the nurse, who bent down next to him.  
  
"I'm sorry about your wife, sir..." she whispered, "But you have a brand new baby girl to love."  
  
"Well, why can't I have both?" he asked on a whim.  
  
"Sometimes..." the nurse began, hesitating, "Sometimes in order to recieve one gift you must give another. In truth, sir, you still have both wife and child-watch her as she grows and you'll see."  
  
END FLASHBACK 


	3. Naptime

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
Chapter Three-Naptime  
Everyone in the neighborhood the Torretto's lived in came to Leila's funeral. Tony held Mia in his arms as they lowered his wife into the ground and Mia cooed when they threw the first shovelful of dirt in the hole. Tony had to smile despite the occasion.  
  
Dominic walked around listlessly for the next few weeks and Letty would come over to try and cheer him up, but to no avail.   
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Come on, Dom. Is be fwun!" Letty said, trying to make Dom smile.  
  
"Go away Letty." he spat and she did a double take, refusing to show him her hurt.  
  
"Pwease, Dom. Bownce wid me." she said, jumping up and down on his bed. Dom got really angry and, sitting up, jerked Letty off his bed onto the floor.  
  
"Go the hell away! You're nothing but an annoying little pest!" he yelled at her. Letty just sat on the floor, staring up at Dom, trying not to cry. Dom saw tears well up in her eyes and slapped his forehead. Now she was gonna cry and that was gonna wake Mia up and then she would cry. Dom closed his eyes and waited.  
  
But Letty didn't cry out and he opened his eyes to see her stubbornly sitting on the floor with tears streaking down her face. He felt bad for treating her like he did when all she wanted to do was make him happy again.   
  
"Letty-" he said, lowering himself to the floor and crawling over to her, "Letty...I'm sorry for hurting you. It's just-I'm not feeling very good right now and-I didn't mean to take it out on y-"  
  
And he stopped dead as Letty smacked him on the face as hard as she could.  
  
"I not wike you now." she said angrily and he laughed as she crossed her arms and tried to look disagreeable.   
  
"Come'ere, baby girl." he said, motioning her over. She crawled into his lap and he picked her up. "Come on-let's take a nap, kay?" he asked and she nodded, yawning. He tucked her under the covers before crawling under himself and he drifted off to sleep as Letty latched her small arms onto him.  
  
Ten years later....  
  
Dom jolted awake as the alarm went off for the second time.  
  
"Shut the fuck up!" he yelled at the clock, hitting the button and looking vaguely at it. It said that it was seven fifty-five in the morning. On a Thursday.  
  
"Shit! Letty- get up! We're gonna be late for school!" he yelled, jumping from the bed and pulling clothes on.  
  
"What?" Letty asked sleepily, looking out from under the huge pile of blankets.  
  
"We're gonna be late!"  
  
"Oh, who cares!" she said, pulling the covers back over her head. Dom approached the end of the bed and yanked all the blankets off. "Dom! I don't have any clothes to wear!" she hissed.  
  
"Well, why not?" he asked.  
  
"I forgot to bring them. I had to get aw-Never mind. Can I borrow a shirt or something?" she asked.  
  
"Borrow whatever you want, just give it back." he said, running out of the room. She grabbed wife beater and, noticing a huge stain on her pants, a pair of his camo khakis and pulled them on. She couldn't find her shoes and was still looking when Dom came back upstairs.   
  
"Letty!"   
  
"I can't find my shoes!"  
  
"They're by the front door!"  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Come on." he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her downstairs, through the kitchen and out the door. She just barely grabbed her shoes before the door slammed shut behind them. They ran the three blocks to the school, Letty without shoes, and got in the doors just as the bell rang. Letty and Dom stood, gasping for breath, in the hallway.  
  
"Great-we're late. For the fifth time this month!" he said angrily.  
  
"Well. If you-would stop-hitting the snooze button-three friggin' times-"she said, jumping on one foot, trying to get her shoes on, "We wouldn't have this problem." she finished, putting her foot back on the ground. "Shit." she said, noticing a hole in her shoe. "Stupid, cheap ass shoes." she said, reaching down and playing with the rip.  
  
"This is the fifth time this month, you two!" yelled Principal Fishlips(his real name was Mishtip which wasn't that great either, but he had huge lips that made him look like a fish) making Letty fall on the floor. "Up! Come on!" he said, yanking Letty up and dragging them both down the hall to his office.  
  
A/N:Just so you know when it said 'ten years later...' was the transition to either Letty's POV, Dom's POV, Mia's POV or Third person POV. So it'll stop saying FLASHBACK now. 


	4. Bruised

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
Babywalls72- Letty's eleven and Dom's fifteen. She spends most of her days at the Torretto household and usually just falls asleep in Dom's bed. And they're better friends then should be at the moment but don't worry-that will be remedied! cackles evilly  
  
cruel-capricorn-thanks for lettin' me know you like this one too! It's a workload-writing like three stories at the same time! And all about the same movies-I have to remember which characters are with which story!  
  
LettyDomLuva-the story idea is the same as others like it-dealing with the past, I mean- but I just put this up like two days ago so no possible way you could've seen it months ago. Thanx for readin' and reviewin'!  
  
Supergurl1616-Thanx for readin' and reviewin'!  
  
greenglowchassis- with stories like these you need mush-it's an absolute MUST! Luv your name  
  
pips24-U work at McDonald's? Thanx for luvin' it  
  
Penning Fantasy-thanx for the HUGE review! i'm glad you like my writing skills faerie pops out and says "She cheats with spellcheck!"-tejsgurl4eva promptly stuffs faerie out of sight-you hear a muffled yelling that suddenly stops-tejsgurl4eva "ANYWAY!"  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
Chapter Four-Bruised  
  
"Shit." Letty said, looking down at the detention slip, "My papi's gonna beat me."  
  
"Just forge it. I always do." Dom said, stuffing his own slip into his bag. They walked down the deserted hall in silence until Letty grabbed Dom's arm suddenly. "What?"  
  
"Dom-please tell me your father brought Mia to school today and that we didn't leave her by herself." Letty said.  
  
"I knew I forgot something..." he said.  
  
"Dom-she's your sister!" Letty said angrily, turning to face him.  
  
"She'll be fine." he said calmly.  
  
"She's TEN!" Letty yelled, hitting him on the back of his bald head, "She's not gonna be fine Dominic!"  
  
"All right! We'll go get her! Stop hitting my head!" he roared, grabbing her wrist, and Letty cowered as he glared down at her. "We'll go get her." he said calmly and Letty nodded. She loved Dom but he was scary when he was angry nonetheless. He dragged her by her wrist and they walked out the doors of the school without getting in trouble. They walked the three blocks to the Torretto household and opened the front door.  
  
"Mia?" Letty said and Mia's head popped up over the kitchen counter.  
  
"What?" she asked, putting something in her mouth.  
  
"We're sorry we left you here today but we all get to go to school now." Letty explained and Mia shrugged her shoulders, walking out from behind the counter. She had a bowl of cereal and was eating it carefully as she walked.  
  
"Wha'?" she asked, her mouth full of cereal as they stared at her, "Look, I couldn't get on the stupid stool okay?"  
  
"Right. Oh, Letty-we can stop by your house and get you some clothes now-"   
  
"NO!" she yelled. "I mean, these are fine, Dom." she said nervously. Dom jsut looked at her with a look that said 'Oh-kaaay...' "I like these better-they're comfortabler."  
  
"Comfortabler isn't a word." Mia said like her know-it-all self, dumping the bowl in the sink and grabbing her bookbag. Mia ran out the door as Letty shot her a look that read murder.  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
The rest of the day was spent at school like any normal day. Dom talked to Vince the whole time, ignoring Letty completely and snapping at her when she talked to him. Letty and Mia wandering around the school. Letty throwing punches at anyone who insulted her or Mia. Otherwise, pretty normal.  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
Letty walked slowly down the street to her house, dreading what would happen. She'd never called last night to say she was spending the night. And she was wearing Dom's clothes, which made it even worse. Not to mention the detention slip.   
  
She reached the door and slipped inside. She turned, closing the door softly.  
  
"Where you been girl?"said a voice and Letty jumped, turning with her back to the door.  
  
"I-I went to Mia's p-p-papi. I'm sorry I d-didn't call." Letty stuttered, backing into the door as her father got closer and closer. He got all the way up in her face before stopping. Letty shut her eyes, waiting-and it finally came. She hit the door hard and slid down the door as her father's fist connected with her face. She curled into a ball as her father's foot lashed out again and again until finally it stopped.  
  
Letty lay on the floor, gasping for air, as her father walked away saying "Don't do it again, wench."  
  
She lay on the floor in fetal position crying softly to herself. She pushed herself off the floor and went to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and cursed to herself. How was she going to hide this? Lately, the Torretto's had been asking if her father beat her but she'd always avoid the subject. She grabbed the antiseptic angrily, pouring it onto a rag and dabbing at her split lip. She hissed in pain as she moved on to the cut on her brow and chin. She could already see the bruise forming on her cheek as the blood rushed to the surface.   
  
"Letty? Honey, are you-oh my god, sweetie." said Lena, rushing into the bathroom to look at Letty. "Who did this, honey? Was it that Torretto boy?"  
  
"Don't talk about him like that! Ever!" Letty yelled angrily, pushing her mother away, "If you wanna know who did this ask the man you call husband!" she yelled, pushing past her mother and running to her room, slamming the door and throwing herself down on the bed to be consumed by tears. 


	5. Fear

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
WARNING-If you don't like gross things you might wanna skip this chapter.  
  
Chapter Five- Fear  
  
Letty jolted awake at a loud THUMP! resounded through the house.   
  
Thump. Thump. Thump.  
  
Letty sat up and jumped as a huge peal of thunder rolled and the wind whistled by. As the wind got faster, she noticed the thumping got faster as well. Letty walked to her door and opened it, looking down the dark hallway before walking into it. She reached the top of the stairs and began to walk down them. She jumped when another thump sounded, tripping down the stairs and landing at the bottom.   
  
"H-hello?" she asked the darkness. Nothing. She passed in front of the front door. Another thump.  
  
The thumping was outside.  
  
Letty grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly, wrenching it open. She was expecting someone to be there but no one was, so she pushed the screen door aside and went onto the porch. She stood in the rain and wind, hugging herself to keep from getting a chill.  
  
It didn't work.  
  
As Letty heard another thump, it occured to her that something might be caught on the house, so she walked into the yard and looked up at the front of the house.  
  
After which she promptly screamed.  
  
Her mother's body dangled from the bedroom window and was blowing in the harsh wind and rain.   
  
Letty had found the source of the thumping. She was fixated on her mother that she was totally taken by surprise when someone tackled her to the ground. She fought to get away from her father and her fist connected with his face, dazing him. It was all Letty needed. She jumped up and began to run. She heard her father curse, heard his footsteps coming after her as she ran towards the Torretto household for her life. She ran up the front steps and collided with the front door, twisting the handle to find that it was locked.  
  
"DOM!" she screamed, banging on the door. "DOM! HELP! ANYBODY!" she screamed, banging harder. She turned and saw her father charging up the stairs so she ran to the porch ledge, pulling herself onto the roof and out of her father's grasping fingertips. She scrambled up to a window and pounded on it. It opened and Mia stood there, staring at Letty, who was soaking wet, muddy and terrified. Letty scrambled into Mia's room and ran downstairs. Tony was just about to open the front door.  
  
"DON'T!" she screamed, making Tony jump and whirl around, "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!"  
  
""Dad?" Dom asked, coming downstairs, "What the fuck is going on?"  
  
"Watch your language and I'm just as confused as you are, Dom. Care to explain Let?" Tony asked. Letty began to stutter uncontrollably.  
  
"Mami, she-THUMP THUMP THUMP-and papi tackled me-he hit me-wind made it go THUMP-got away-swing swing _THUMP_-" Letty began, using her hands to tell the broken story, slamming one hand into the other on THUMP and pointing to an invisible object on the swing, "-climbed in Mia's-ran away-punched him to get away-got away-Mami-"  
  
Suddenly a loud THUMP resounded from the front door.  
  
"Lemme in Torretto! My daughter's in there!" yelled her father. Tony looked at Letty, who by this time had scrambled over everything and was curled up in the corner, crying.  
  
"Come back tomorrow, Mikhael. She wants to spend the night." Tony yelled back calmly. "Mia, honey-would you mind getting some wet, warm towels. Dom-could you get some dry ones and a big, warm blanket." Tony ordered and they went their own ways as he walked over to Letty. She was clutching her head to her knees and crying to herself.  
  
"Letty, come sit on the couch. It's much nicer than this cold floor." Tony said and Letty looked up at him. He reached down and gently pulled her to her feet, leadin her over to the couch. Mia and Dom returned and Mia helped Letty get cleaned up while Tony and Dom went into the kitchen.  
  
"Dad? Why is Letty here at one in the morning, terrified out of her wits?" Dom asked, watching his father pace.  
  
"I'm not sure. One thing I am sure about is Letty's father. Did you see the bruises she had everywhere?" he said, running a hand through his hair, "From what I can tell, Letty's mother-"  
  
"Dad! We're done! You can come back in now." Mia yelled from the living room. Tony and Dom walked back into the living room and sat on the furniture. Letty looked like a baby, swaddled and scared, on the couch beside Mia.  
  
"Now. Letty-I need you to tell me exactly what happened today when you got home from school." Tony said and Letty looked like she was about to cry again. But she nodded and began her story. Leaving out the detention slip.  
  
"I-I got home and my p-papi-he-he hit me for not calling-I got in a fight with my mami-and fell asleep in m-m-my room-THUMP-something woke me up-woke me up-hic-went outside-hic-looked at the house-swing swing THUMP it went-" Letty started but Tony interrupted.  
  
"Letty-what went swing swing THUMP?"   
  
"-swing swing THUMP-_she was hanging by her neck going swing swing THUMP_!" Letty yelled, slamming her hands on the coffee table at THUMP. At this point Mia promptly clapped her hands over her mouth and squeaked.  
  
"Dom-put your sister to bed."  
  
"But dad-"  
  
"Do it, please. Then you can come back down."  
  
"Fine." Dom said, dragging Mia, who didn't want to go, upstairs to bed. He came down seconds later.  
  
"Letty-I need the rest of the-of the story, honey." Tony said.  
  
"He tackled me and I got away-hic-by punching his face-sniffle-and I ran here."  
  
"How did you get upstairs?"  
  
"She climbed in through my window." Mia said, sitting back down on the couch.  
  
"Mia, you're supposed to be in bed." Dom said.  
  
"Let it go, Dom. Never mind." Tony said, turning back to Letty. She was clutching her knees to her chest again and muttering to herself.  
  
"He wants to kill me, he does." she said, looking at them with a wild look in her eyes, "He wants to cut my throat-kill me-chop me into little pieces-"  
  
"Letty-no one is going to chop you into little pieces, honey. I promise. Now why don't we all go to bed and we can talk about this further in the morning, hmm?" Tony asked, standing and stretching.   
  
"Come on, Letty." Mia said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up the stairs, stumbling.  
  
"MIA! Take it easy! She's in shock!" Dom yelled, coming up after them. Letty looked back at him as Mia dragged her into her room and slammed the door. Dom couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't want to be in Mia's room at all.  
  
A/N: So what do you think for my first scary chapter? 


	6. Adrian Cortez

There's No "I" in TEAM  
  
Summary: How the team came to be-the past and all that shit, how I want it or think it was.  
  
Rating: Will vary from chapter to chapter but mainly PG-13  
  
Disclaimers: I own nothing except Letty's best friend, Adrian Cortez, her father, Mikhael Rodriguez, her mother, Lena Rodriguez and her adoptive parents, Jake and Ande McCune(that is my Best Friend's last name so don't you DARE say it's stupid or desperate measures will be taken!)  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
Chapter Six-Adrian Cortez  
  
Letty looked over at Mia to make sure she was asleep before she snuck down the hall to Dom's room. Mia had lent her a shirt and pants to wear to bed and she was grateful. She opened the door to Dom's room and crept inside, closing the door softly.  
  
"I was wondering when you'd get here." Dom's sleepy voice said, making her jump. She turned and guiltily stared at her feet. "Come on. It's gotta be cold out there." Dom said and Letty nearly leapt into the bed with him. She snuggled up to his side under the covers, clutching his middle as if for dear life.  
  
"It's okay, Letty. You're safe here, you know." he said, stroking her hair, "Time to sleep." he finished, leaning down and kissing her head softly before falling asleep. Letty followed soon after.  
  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
  
The next morning, Tony called the cops and told them about Letty's situation. He told them that unless they caught Letty's father-who'd run when Tony had told him Letty was spending the night-and kept him away from her she was staying with them. And so Letty spent the next few weeks at the Torretto household as the 'adopted daughter'. Mia loved it, always gushing about something to Letty(which she usually found quite uninteresting...of course she liked cars so she couldn't say anything).   
  
The first day after Letty had come, Tony had panicked when he couldn't find Letty in Mia's room. So not only had Dom gotten a telling off but Letty had too. This telling off put a damper on Dom and Letty's relationship and for the remaining time she spent at the Torretto's she slept either in Mia's room or on the couch. Once she woke up, unsure of where she was, and found she'd fallen asleep outside Dom's door. She scrambled back into Mia's room before anyone else woke up.  
  
One day, about a month after Letty had come, a woman came from children services. Letty sat on the couch opposite her and listened.  
  
"Leticia-because your father is unable to take care of you at this time, we're going to transfer you to another home. It's about five miles away from this area and the couple of the home is excited to meet you." the woman said, rustling through her paperwork.  
  
"Five miles?" Letty whispered. That meant she couldn't just run to Dom when she needed help anymore.  
  
"Well-we should go gather your things and then we can go, hmm?" the woman asked, stuffing her papers in her bag and standing.  
  
"I'm not going in that house." Letty said.  
  
"Leticia-"  
  
"I'm not going into that fucking house!" she yelled.  
  
"Fine. Fine, honey-just tell me what you want and I'll go get it. You don't even have to go further near the house than my beat up Volvo. Okay?" the woman asked. Letty stood and walked out the door to stand by the woman's car.  
  
"Letty!"   
  
Letty turned and saw Mia and Dom standing in the doorway. Mia was crying into Dom's chest and Letty's heart went out to the poor girl. But Letty didn't run up the stairs into anyone's arms-if she did she might not be able to tear herself away from the ones she called family. She and Dom locked eyes one final time before she climbed in the car and they pulled away.  
  
Letty stared out the window as the woman-Lisa, she'd found out. Typical white girl name.-babbled on about how nice the neighborhood was and how many kids her age were there and all that bull shit.   
  
"Letty?"   
  
No response.  
  
"Letty, you wanna have some fun?" the woman asked and Letty looked at her strangely, afraid of what this woman's definition of fun was. "It'll be fun-I promise. But we gotta take a little detour and my car ain't the best thing runnin' ya know?"  
  
The woman took and exit and they drove for another fifty miles until they reached a flat stretch of land by a sparsely populated highway. And Lisa got out of the car, walked around to the passenger's side and opened the door.  
  
"Scoot over." she said and Letty moved to the driver's seat. "Now-we're going to have some fun. Can you reach the pedal and see over the dash?" she asked. Letty nodded-she could just barely see over the dash. "Now-from what I understand , you're pretty good with cars-you know the gears right? Put it in first and hit the gas, honey. Let's ride." Lisa finished and Letty fell in love with this woman. Here she was, in the middle of nowhere, with this woman who was letting her race her car. Letty slammed into first and pumped the gas, squealing off into the desert on redline.  
  
Two hours later....  
  
Letty gasped for breath as she screeched the car to a stop right by the highway. Lisa had been laughing the whole time Letty'd been drifting and spinning donuts.  
  
"You're good, girl. You should get into racin'. When you're older, preferably." Lisa said, laughing again. Letty grinned. "Now-I hate to stop you fine tuning your driving skills but we have a couple waiting to meet you."  
  
Letty grinned the whole way to the McCune's house and floated out of the car with her stuff.  
  
"Snap out of it, honey. You're still ten feet off the ground on adrenaline-doesn't make a good impression on anybody." Lisa said, grabbing Letty's shoulders and jokingly shaking her. Lisa reached out and pushed the doorbell on the huge house. Five seconds later a man by the name of Watson ushered them into the livingroom and went to get 'the missus'.  
  
"I don't think I can do this." Letty said nervously.  
  
"You'll like them. They just have a huge house cause of Jake's job." Lisa said.  
  
"Lisa!" said a surprised voice and they both turned.  
  
"Ande!" Lisa said, giving the Latino woman a bear hug. "How've you been?"  
  
"I'm quite all right, Lis." Ande said, pulling away. "And who is this?"  
  
"Letty Rodriguez." Letty said, looking the woman up and down. Ande wore a dirty, blue wife beater and greasy khakis.  
  
"She's a mechanic." Lisa whispered in Letty's ear as she walked by. Letty's head snapped around, following Lisa in disbelief.  
  
"Hey, listen, Letty-I'm sorry I'm so dirty. The Neon I've been workin' on just won't cooperate. So if you'll give me a minute to clean up we can have something to eat, okay? You like Hawaiian pizza?" Ande asked.  
  
"It's my favorite." Letty said, nodding.  
  
"Me too! That's a coincidence! I'll go call Pizza Hut then." Ande said, walking away.  
  
"What'd I say?" Lisa asked, crossing her arms and glaring at Letty, trying to keep a straight face.  
  
"How'd you do it?" Letty asked.  
  
"My son did a background check on you for me and I tried to match you up with someone who was the most like you. Sorry that it's five miles away, but I'm sure Ande'll let you go visit whenever you want. She's really pretty loose about the rules." Lisa explained.  
  
"Who's your son?" Letty asked.  
  
"His name's Jesse. He's a computer whiz kid but he just can't seem to keep his attention straight in school."  
  
"What? Does he have, like, ADD or something?"  
  
"Bingo. He loves cars though. Maybe I'll bring him over sometime and you guys can talk." Lisa said. Ande came back into the room dressed in shorts and babydoll t-shirt that said 'Tiger' on it, with four claw marks running down the stomach.  
  
"Bring who over?"  
  
"Jesse."  
  
"Oh! Bring him over anytime you want-I love him, he helps me figure out what's wrong with my cars." Ande spun around in front of them and stopped. "You like?" she asked. Letty and Lisa nodded. "Good. Now-let's talk about you."   
  
Four hours later, Letty, Ande and Lisa had caught up with each other and learned about each other. Ande's full name Andrea(An-dre-a) Calita McCune and she was twenty-seven. She had been into cars since she was Letty's age and was now a full-time mechanic. Letty fell in love with Ande and couldn't wait to meet Jake.  
  
"Well-I gotta fly, Ande. Letty here was my last kid today, luckily, and I got a hot date tonight." Lisa said, standing.  
  
"With who?" Ande asked as she, Lisa and Letty walked down the hall.  
  
"My television and a guy named Vin Diesel." Lisa said, laughing.  
  
"I don't get your obsession with him-he is not that hot." Ande said, pausing to think, "Of course compared to Jake..."  
  
Lisa cracked up as Ande pushed her out the door yelling in Spanish. She closed the door and turned to Letty.   
  
"So what do you wanna do? You can wander around the house or outside, if you want. Meet some of the kids-there's a nice boy down the street named Adrian. I think you might like each other-he's into cars too." Ande said, clapping her hands together.  
  
"I guess I'll wander around outside." Letty said shrugging.  
  
"Try not to get lost okay? If you do just knock on someone's door and ask for directions to the McCune's house. Have fun babe." Ande said, going into another room as Letty walked out the door. She wandered around the area, trying not to stray too far from the McCune's, and sat down on the curb to think. As she thought, tears began to streak down her face and she rubbed them away angrily. Something hit her in the back of the head at that moment and she yelled in pain. She jumped up, turning to see a boy about her age and a soccer ball on the sidewalk.  
  
"Watch where you're freakin' kickin' that damn ball! That hurt!" she yelled, rubbing the back of her head.  
  
"You new here?" he asked, kicking the soccer ball up and grabbing it.  
  
"Yeah, I just moved. I live with the McCune's now." she said.  
  
"Are you Letty?"  
  
"Who are you?"   
  
"Adrian." he said and Letty silently cursed herself for being the smartmouth she always was. "Hello?"  
  
"What?" she asked, blinking.  
  
"You wanna play soccer?" he asked, holding up the ball.  
  
"I'm not that good." Letty said.  
  
"I can teach you. If you want." he said.  
  
"I-sure, I mean-I guess." she said and he grabbed her arm, dragging her into the backyard. 


	7. Love Comes From the Most Unlikeliest of ...

There's No 'I' In TEAM  
  
Love Comes From the Most Unlikely of Places  
  
WARNING: Slight fluffiness in this chapter-just to establish the whole Letty/Adrian relationship thing going on. Might not be needed really but I wanted to put it in to clarify. I don't own anybody(I wanna own Vince though-he's such a hottie!) or lines from 'Blue Crush' or 'Resident Evil'(small lines).  
  
"Adrian! Put me the hell down!" Letty yelled as her boyfriend of three years tossed her over his shoulder and made his way towards the ocean. Letty scrambled to get out of his grasp as she realized what he was going to do and he laughed and moved faster. "Adrian! DO-" Letty said as he dropped her in the ocean. She sputtered as she surfaced and glared as he grinned at her.  
  
"You told me to put you down."  
  
"I meant on dry land idiota."  
  
"You didn't specify, puta."  
  
"Oooo-you are _so_ dead, papi!" she said, diving underwater. Adrian yelled as she pulled his legs out from under him and he sank under the water-but he dragged her along despite her struggles.  
They gasped for air as they surfaced and Letty laughed happily.  
  
"You're such an ass." she said.  
  
"Ah, yes-but that's why you love me correct?" he said in a fake French accent. She laughed again and said "Yeah, that's why I love you." She kissed him softly and pulled away, licking her lips.  
  
"Now you get to carry me back to the blanket."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I don't want sand on my feet. And because I said so." she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"Of course, m'lady." he said standing with her in his arms, "Jesus _Christ_ woman-what've you been eatin'?!" he joked, pretending to stumble.  
  
"Shut up or you're not gettin' any tonight." she said, cocking an eyebrow. Adrian snapped his mouth shut and carried her back to the blanket, setting her gently on the ground.  
  
"Thank you. Now come here." He sat down beside her and she pulled him into a kiss that got pretty heated when someone called her name.  
  
"_Letty?!?"_ Letty broke the kiss and looked up at...Mia, Dom and Vince.  
  
"Hey! What's up guys?" she asked, sitting up quickly and standing to hug Mia.  
  
"Just thought we'd come to the beach and hang out." Mia said as Dom and Vince walked away,  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
"Oh! Sorry-this is my boyfriend, Adrian." Letty explained. Adrian leaned down and kissed Mia's hand and said "Absolutely spiffing to see you, ol' chap."  
  
"You'll have to excuse him-he has an asshole disorder." Letty said as Mia looked at him strangely.  
  
"So I guess I'll see you after school tomorrow?" Mia asked.  
  
"You know it." Letty said, grinning.  
  
"Letty, we gotta get back, babe." Adrian said, looking at his watch.  
  
"Gimme a god damned minute, Adrian! I've known this girl since she was born!" Letty snapped.  
  
"Okay, okay. Just know we gotta go pretty soon okay?" he said.  
  
"Okay." For the next five minutes, Adrian watched Mia and Letty talk as he sat in his car. Letty ran up to the car and climbed in the window.  
  
"Let's roll." she said, getting situated. Adrian pulled away and Mia watched as the car faded into the distance.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Letty and Adrian walked into his apartment and dumped their stuff on the floor in the living room.  
  
"You hungry?" Adrian asked as they made their way to the kitchen.  
  
"Starved."  
  
"What d'you want?" he asked.  
  
"What is there?" she asked, looking over his shoulder, "You need to go shopping more often." she said, looking at the pitiful remnants of food in the fridge.  
  
"Guess we're havin' pizza then." Adrian said.  
  
"Fine with me. Just get-"  
  
"Half Hawaiian. I know you like the back of my hand, Let." he said, closing the fridge and picking up the phone.  
  
"You do do you?" she asked seductively, walking into the living room. She sighed and plopped down on the couch, turning the small tv on and flipping through the channels. Nothing interesting was on so she grabbed an unmarked tape and put it in the vcr. She hit play and sat on the couch, wondering what it was. It turned out to be a home video of her, Adrian, Jesse and a group of other kids at the school festival. She watched as Adrian narrated(most of the time) the night away.  
  
"And here we have my beautiful girlfriend, Leticia Eden Rodriguez." Letty looked at something behind the camera and snapped "Adrian what did I tell you about calling me that?"  
  
"You said you'd kick my ass." Letty laughed at his response and made to grab the camera, which backed out of her grasp.  
  
"Come on Adrian. I wanna shoot some stuff too." Letty complained. The camera went out of focus for a moment before refocusing on Adrian.  
  
"And this, ladies and gentleman, is my ass of a boyfriend Adrian Cortez, who just fell for my bait."  
  
"What was the trap?"  
  
"You ain't gettin' your camera back." she said and Adrian's face dropped. The camera turned and began shaking up and down as she ran from Adrian. Jesse appeared in the lens and the camera ran towards him. "Jesse! Help me man. Adrian's out for my blood-I took his camera." said her voice. Suddenly she screamed and the camera fell to the ground.  
The camera showed her and Adrian fighting playfully to get to the camera first and Adrian pinned her arms down before reaching for the camera. He started to lean down and kiss her but looked over at the camera. He reached over and the camera went dark.  
  
Letty had pulled her legs to her chest and was watching the tape so intently she jumped when Adrian wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  
  
"Jumpy." he laughed and she flung her hand back aiming for his head.  
  
"The pizza'll be here in about forty five minutes to an hour." he said, sitting upside down on the couch and placing his head on her lap.  
  
"I'm bored. You need to get cable, man." Letty said, stroking his hair.  
  
"I can think of one thing we could do." he said, grinning.  
  
"I'm up for it." she said, grinning back. They left a trail of clothes on the way to their room, kissing passionately the entire way.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Letty snapped awake as the doorbell rang. "Hello?" she said as the doorbell rang again. "Oh shit-the pizza." she said, scrambling into one of Adrian's shirts and grabbing some money before runnng to the door.  
  
"Sorry I took so long, I just got out of the shower ten minutes ago. Drying my hair, you know." she said.  
  
"Twenty three fifty."  
  
"For a fuckin _pizza_? Shit." she said, giving him the amount and tip. She bumped the door closed with her hip and opened the box.  
  
"Yummy." she said, picking pineapple off her side and eating it. She put the pizza on the table and ran upstairs. Somehow, Adrian was still asleep. Normally he was like a horse to water with food. Like a damn magnet.  
  
"Babe, pizza's here." she said, sitting beside him on the bed. He didn't respond the first time she said it or the second, so she stood on the bed and began to bounce on it. "Adrian, Adrian, time to get up, the pizza is here and I know you want some..." she sang as she bounced. Still he didn't respond and she bounced to her knees. "Adrian? You can quit playin' around now." she said. She reached out and took his pulse and could just barely feel it. "Shit. Phone...Phone.. PHONE!" she screamed as she found the phone and dialed 911.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"But you don't understand-he wouldn't do this! He had no reason to!" Letty said hysterically to Mia in the er.  
  
"Ms. Rodriguez?" a doctor said into the waiting room.  
  
"What? Is Adrian okay?" she yelled, jumping up.  
  
"He's fine, Ms. Rodriguez. Adrian just took one too many of his prescription. Accidental overdose-he's been pumped and he's awake. Said he wanted to talk to you." the doctor said,  
leading her to his room.  
  
"Adrian?" she asked, peering around the curtain.  
  
"Hey, Let. Did the pizza come?" he asked, jokingly.  
  
"You nearly died and all you can think about is the fucking PIZZA?!" she hissed, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"You know me." he said and she laughed through her tears.  
  
"Yeah...I do." she said, sitting beside him on the bed. "I'm glad you're alive Adrian. I would've died if you hadn't survived. I love you so much, you know that?" she said, snuggling into his chest.  
  
"Mmm hmm...I love you too. You gonna stay here all night?" he asked.  
  
"Do you want me to?" she replied.  
  
"Not if it hurts you. I know you don't like hospitals."  
  
"I think I'll suffer it." she said, wrapping her arms around his chest and sighing. Adrian put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head before drifting off to sleep.

A/N: Like I said, not really important to the story except for the fact that it establishes the Letty/Adrian relationship and how close they are.


End file.
